Feb. 25, 2014

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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Jadeveon Clowney wants to be 'one of the best' ever to play football. / Associated Press

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Jadeveon Clowney is an athletic marvel, a freak of a pass rusher who can outrun most receivers but whose own college coach questions his work ethic.

Clowney ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine Monday, impressing talent evaluators across the league who still have no idea what to make of the most talented player in the draft.

Let’s be clear: Clowney won’t make it out of the top 10.

The Texans could take him No. 1 overall, pair him with J.J. Watt, and immediately have the best defensive line in the league. If he doesn’t go there — most believe Houston will take a quarterback — the Rams at No. 2, Jaguars at No. 3 or Falcons at No. 6 almost certainly will. And if he somehow slipped further, there’s no chance he’d get past a Lions team enamored with and in need of pass rushers.

But Clowney’s landing spot could hold the keys to the entire draft.

There are enough quarterback-needy teams near the top that three should go in the top 10. Two or three offensive tackles, including Michigan’s Taylor Lewan, almost certainly will, too. And Clowney is the best defensive end to come into the league since at least Julius Peppers 11 years ago, even if he did a subpar (for his position) 21 reps on the bench press Sunday.

“He got 21. I really don’t care,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “And by the way, if he runs 4.42 or 4.62 (on Monday), I really don’t care. I already think I know what he is. He’s the scariest, freakiest physical specimen since I’ve been doing this as a potential upside defensive lineman. However, that doesn’t mean I’m saying he’s the best defensive lineman in the draft or the best player in the draft, because he worries me with some of the red flags.”

Clowney tried to answer some of those red flags over the weekend, though his decision to skip field drills Monday rankled some of the talking heads who help formulate public opinion.

He insisted he didn’t take plays off last year, when he managed just three sacks, 10 fewer than he had during his All-America sophomore season. He said he loves football. And, as if talking directly to teams who question his motivation, he said he wants to “go down in history as one of the best” to ever play the game.

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Whether he does is anyone’s guess, and where he’ll try to do it remains a mystery, too, for now.

Clowney almost certainly will be gone long before the 10th pick, but here are four other nuggets gleaned from a long weekend in Indianapolis that will impact the Lions in free agency and the draft:

■ Peter King of Sports Illustrated gave Lewan to the Lions in his first mock draft top 10 published Monday, and that thinking is not the least bit out of line. The top-three tackles in this year’s draft, Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews, Auburn’s Greg Robinson and Lewan, are superior to the top three last year, when the Lions were hoping one would fall to No. 5. None did.

Matthews and Robinson are better prospects than Lewan, and 2½ months away from the draft, I think the Lions would be more likely to pull the trigger on a tackle if one of those two was on the board at 10. But as good as the line played at times last year, the Lions still could use an upgrade at tackle. Drafting one that high eventually might push Riley Reiff inside to guard and give the Lions one of the best interior lines in the league.

■ The Lions’ biggest need remains at wide receiver, and there are a number of ways they can attack it in the coming months. In free agency, the Lions should be able to get a pretty good pass catcher for a discount price because of the depth at the position among veterans and the draft.

The Lions’ current receivers for 2014 is Calvin Johnson and four unknowns. Kris Durham will be tendered as an exclusive-rights free agent and should be back, but he’s best suited for a role as a backup. Ryan Broyles can’t be counted on because of his injury situation, and Jeremy Ross (another exclusive-rights free agent) is more of a return man. So the Lions have the option of adding speed on the outside (Emmanuel Sanders?), an undervalued slot receiver (Andre Roberts?) or maybe even spending money on one of free agency’s top receivers (Golden Tate?).

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■ Clemson’s Sammy Watkins didn’t set the combine record in the 40-yard dash as hoped, but he’s still the best receiver in the draft and someone the Lions likely will have to move up for if they want to get.

But several scouts I spoke with in Indianapolis believe the gap between Watkins and Texas A&M’s Mike Evans isn’t as big as some have made it out to be. Evans, who ran a 4.53 40 at almost 6-feet-5 and 231 pounds, is raw when it comes to route running but physically overpowering for cornerbacks. If I were doing a mock draft today, I’d give Evans to the Lions with three quarterbacks, two outside linebackers, Clowney, Robinson, Matthews and Watkins in my top nine.

■ At safety, the Lions’ other major position of need, one name to keep an eye on in free agency is the Miami Dolphins’ Chris Clemons. Assuming Jairus Byrd and T.J. Ward don’t reach the market (or are too pricey once they get there), the Lions could focus on Clemons as a couple-year solution at the position. Glover Quin, one of last year’s top free-agent additions, played well in 2013 — his 30.7 opponent passer rating was best in the league among safeties, according to Pro Football Focus — and the team could supplement the position with an early pick in May’s draft.